About The Song
“Flight of Icarus” is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was their eighth single, the first from their fourth studio album, Piece of Mind (1983), and their first in the United States, where it was one of their few with substantial airplay, peaking at a personal best No. 8 on the Billboard Top Album Tracks chart. It was a lesser success in the UK, peaking at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
One of Iron Maiden’s most famous songs, it was the band’s first single composed entirely by members other than Steve Harris, credited to Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson. Long absent from live shows, “Flight of Icarus” was performed live for the first time in 32 years on May 26, 2018, in Tallinn, Estonia. During their hiatus from Iron Maiden, Dickinson and Smith performed the song live with Dickinson’s solo band in the 1990s.
The song is loosely based on the ancient Greek myth of Icarus who was imprisoned with his father Daedalus in the palace of Knossos on Crete. In an attempt to escape, the pair fabricated wings from feathers and wax so they could fly away. Unfortunately Icarus, not heeding the advice of his father, flew too close to the Sun, melting the wax that held the feathers and thus fell to his death in the sea.
In this version, an unnamed old man with blazing eyes stands on a hill facing a crowd, which may or may not be the protagonist’s father. An unnamed youth, presumably Icarus, comes from the crowd and makes extended eye contact with the man. He tells the crowd that he flies “in the name of God.” The chorus exclaims “Fly on your wings like an eagle,” and to fly as high as & to touch the sun. As he flies, his eyes glaze as he “flies on the wings of a dream.” His wings then turn to ash as he realizes his father has either been betrayed (if the old man is not his father) or has betrayed him (if this man is his father). He then dies. The chorus, however, continues to plead for someone to fly & touch the sun.
Written in the key of F-sharp minor, the song features a galloping pace and a high-pitched chorus. The solos are played by Dave Murray and Adrian Smith and, after a repetition of the main chorus, the song flows into a brief harmonized section followed by another solo—in double time—by Dave Murray; after a variation of the chorus (‘Fly as high as the sun!’), it finally ends with a prolonged F-sharp minor chord over which Bruce Dickinson holds an A5.
The single cover, in something of a parody of the original myth, portrays a winged Eddie killing Icarus with a flamethrower. Icarus resembles the figure in Evening: Fall of Day, by William Rimmer, which was used as a label logo by Led Zeppelin. According to the artist, Derek Riggs, this is a reference to Led Zeppelin’s break-up a few years before.
The song received criticism in the UK on release, with Garry Bushell commenting, “Plodding rather than powerful, it seemed universally unpopular with hardcore British metallurgists whose worst fears were bolstered by the number’s release as the first American single. Bassist Steve Harris has since said that “releasing ‘Icarus’ in the States was a mistake,” going on to state that “I do wish we’d had time to break it in live before we recorded it, it’s a lot more powerful live, a lot faster and heavier.” In support of the song, Dickinson stated, “Steve never liked it. He thought it was too slow, but I wanted it to be that rocksteady sort of beat. I knew it would get onto American radio if we kept it that way, and I was right.”
The song appears on the tribute album Numbers from the Beast, featuring Ripper Owens on vocals, Doug Aldrich on guitars, Jimmy Bain on bass, and Simon Wright on drums, and it was also covered by the progressive metal band Fates Warning in 1983.
Video
Lyrics
As the sun breaks, above the ground
An old man stands on the hill
As the ground warms, to the first rays of light
A birdsong shatters the still
His eyes are ablaze
See the madman in his gaze
Fly on your way, like an eagle
Fly as high as the sun
On your way, like an eagle
Fly and touch the sun (yeah)
Now the crowd breaks and a young boy appears
Looks the old man in the eye
As he spreads his wings and shouts at the crowd
In the name of God, my father I’ll fly
His eyes seem so glazed
As he flies on the wings of a dream
Now he knows his father betrayed
Now his wings turn to ashes to ashes his grave
Fly on your way, like an eagle
Fly as high as the sun
On your way, like an eagle
Fly, touch the sun
Yeah
Fly, on your way, like an eagle
Fly as high as the sun
On your way, like an eagle
Fly as high as the sun
On your way, like an eagle
Fly, touch the sun
On your way, like an eagle
Fly
Fly as high as the sun